Original subtitles

1st Prologue: Haydee

2nd Prologue: Daniel

We must all realize our full potential.

Those who don't are like the people in Versailles,

who surround those who do.

Those who do, are inevitably surrounded and aggressive.

This, for instance, is perfect.

It couldn't be better.

It's painting.

It's thought,

shut in...

...by razor blades. I'm bleeding!

That is to say,

the unity, the unique,

basing it's cause on nothing...

surrounded by it's own thought, as if by razor blades.

It's impossible to hold. See.

It's done on purpose...

Aside from your cut. But that's on purpose.

I'd like the others to get cut, not you.

You'd like paint to cut fingers?

No. Let the others get cut, not you.

You're sharp, so don't need to be cut.

It bothers me.

I don't mind getting cut.

Doesn't it hurt?

I see dangerous people.

You remind me of elegant people in the XVIIIth C.,

so concerned with appearance,

and how they were perceived.

That was already a creation, the start of the Revolution.

The distance, established by elegance...

with regard to non elegant people is capital.

It creates a kind of void around the person,

and it's that void around the person,

that you create, with objects too.

But, in fact, you'd be fine without your objects.

You are the can of paint with razor blades.

As was Saint-Just.

The razor blades are the words.

They could be silence.

They could also be elegance,

a certain yellow.

3rd Prologue: Adrian

Maybe style is more important than beauty.

In love, the notion of beauty is essential.

We love when someone's handsome.

No, he's thought handsome because he's loved!

Yes. A man may be ugly and yet full of charm.

Loved, his ugliness becomes beauty.

For me an ugly man has no charm.

Nothing's possible. It's over immediately.

What's over?

Anything. Even very superficial relationships.

Even just the time for a drink. I can't.

If he's ugly, I leave.

Can you make friends with someone you find ugly?

Ugliness and beauty have nothing to do with my friendships.

I don't see my friends as either ugly or handsome.

Friendship doesn't happen in 5 minutes.

How can you do that with someone you find ugly?

I run. It's impossible!

Ugliness isn't it.

Among all the beautiful people, I'm only interested...

in those who possess more than beauty.

Someone of absolute beauty would bore me.

I'm not talking about Greek beauty.

Absolute beauty doesn't exist!

To find someone handsome,

sometimes a tiny thing is enough...

maybe something between his nose and mouth.

So anyone could appeal to you.

- No! - Why not?

No! I find very few people handsome.

It limits my friendships severely,

because if I'm repelled by people, I never see them again.

And since many people repel me...

You never change your mind?

No. The first thing I say whenever I'm asked to dinner,

isn't "What does he do?", but "Is he handsome?".

And ugly ones are always doomed?

To the oven!

Yes, they deserve it.

Ugliness is an insult to others.

One's responsible for one's looks.

For instance, a nose moves or gets old

according to the way one thinks or speaks.

Besides, I'm not talking about still beauty.

Movements, expressions, gait...

everything counts, doesn't it?

How long will you stay in London?

At least five weeks.

Your photos won't take that long.

No, but I have a lot of friends to see.

And I love London in July.

Why not come to the Riviera?

Rodolphe is lending me his villa.

I have lots of things to do!

You just said the opposite. Come for a few days.

It's not worth it. Why don't you come to London?

Why? I have nothing to do there!

What will you do, all alone on the Riviera?

I have business meetings.

What business? I never believed in your so called business!

I have to go to a sale... hunt for a sleeping partner...

a collector of Chinese curios.

He's financing a gallery for me.

Wouldn't London be more interesting for you?

I see only serious people, and do only serious things.

Come along, you'll see.

- No, I won't come. - Why not?

Because, it's necessary, from time to time,

for one of us to do something serious.

But I am serious.

Why do you run when we could be together?

I'd like you to come.

I'd like it very much.

Why don't you come to London?

I already told you, I can't!

Well, in that case...

End of prologues

As soon as I arrived, Daniel told me the bad news.

Rodolphe had invited a girl here.

She would surely disturb us.

Maité?

Haydée.

I don't see...

Besides, those girls don't interest me.

Well, it's only for 24 days.

What type?

Rather simple, a round head...

close-cropped, charming.

Is she here?

As a rule...yes.

She begs here and there. Brings guys here.

That's just like Rodolphe.

He's surrounded by simple people.

Anyway, if they bother us, we'll kick them all out, her too.

I longed to be alone.

Daniel's presence was no problem.

As I lived all year without hours or dates,

I considered making a rule.

The monastic style of my room helped.

First, get up early.

I'd always approached dawn in reverse, after sleepless nights.

Now I'd live mornings in the right order,

and associate them, like most people do...

with the idea of awakening and beginning.

An invigorating, yet oppressive feeling.

I had to shift...

my life back a third of a day,

in order to be too tired at night, to give in to the temptation to go out.

So what did I want to do? Exactly...nothing.

For once I'd take a real holiday.

My work began when others' stopped.

Evenings, weekends, on beaches, in the mountains.

This year only one thing interested me, my art gallery.

Nothing else mattered.

And since everything was ready,

I had only to wait.

Having for the first time in 10 years, nothing to do,

I undertook to do really nothing...

That is, to carry idleness to a height I'd never yet reached.

I even tried not to think.

At last I was alone before the sea...

far from cruises and beaches...

accomplishing a dream cherished

and put off year after year.

I wanted my glance to be as empty as possible...

void of a naturalist's curiosity.

For if I had yielded to one of my desires...

I'd have spent my life collecting plants.

I surrendered to the vision...

and play of shadow and light...

falling into apathy prolonged by a swim.

That state of passivity, of total availability...

promised to last much longer than the euphoria...

brought by the first contact with the sea.

I saw myself for a whole month, spending every day, in the same way.

That's why I couldn't bear seeing anyone but Daniel.

The only woman I would have liked to see, was far away.

I'd resigned myself to it,

and without difficulty

dismissed, for ever, I thought, the thought of her.

But I wasn't ready to tolerate another,

especially not one of Rodolphe's pathetic little protégées.

The world belongs to those who get up early!

I want to swim every morning at sunrise.

And I at noon.

- Are you reading this? - No, you can have it.

That quest for nothing, for emptiness...

Daniel had his own way...

more direct and brutal than mine.

I almost considered him a master.

- Nothing? - Nothing.

Nothing at all?

Absolutely, positively nothing.

Since I arrived, I've done nothing.

I even do less and less.

I want to reach the absolute nought.

It's very difficult.

It requires incredible care.

It comes to me naturally. It's my inclination.

It's more tiring to follow one's nature than to fight it.

You're doing something, reading.

If I didn't, I'd think.

And thinking is the hardest, most demanding thing that can be.

One always thinks too much.

The main thing is to participate.

A book makes me think its way.

What I don't want, is to think my way.

I want to be led. Like an Arab. In a street, he feels the street.

While we think about the goal.

An Arab said: "One is the first figure of the endless number."

An idea is a flash.

We have only 3 or 4 real ideas during our lifetime.

People who are always thinking don't exist.

Look at soft watches, for example.

That's right, I'm not looking for anything.

If I come across a Rousseau, I read Rousseau.

I could just as well read Don Quixote.

If a pretty girl offers herself, I take her.

But for the moment, I have no desire for a romance.

What if Haydée goes to your bed?

Who? Oh that girl... Did she go to yours?

No, there's always someone in mine.

But that's her directive side.

That doesn't matter.

She hasn't reached that stage yet.

For 24 to 48 hours, she can even be remarkably faithful.

And 3 or 4 days after I arrived...

at 2 a.m.

Coming back from my swim, I saw her with a boy her age.

A little later, they came down on the lawn.

From what Daniel had told me...

I'd expected another girl I'd seen at Rodolphe's,

an exasperating pest.

Let's kill a chicken.

This one had

the same haircut.

But I didn't recognize her, from so far.

I'm not a good judge of faces.

It didn't matter, because I wasn't giving her a chance

of getting along with me either.

She had recognized me as the man who, 2 weeks ago,

at Rodolphe's, had entered her room.

Do you know Adrian?

I think so.

We must have met at Rodolphe's.

Yes...

I see.

It's a pity Rodolphe isn't here this year.

I know he hates travelling.

I know about boats. My father's in the boat business.

He invented the first yacht made of plastic.

And you, what do you do?

What?

I mean, for work?

I'm a doctor.

A regular doctor?

No, an eye specialist.

And I can see you can barely stand daylight.

Are you serious?

My first impressions are always right.

Let me see your glasses.

Are they prescription?

No, they're sunglasses, I bought them in a store.

You know, it's dangerous to buy shoddy goods.

Shoddy! I paid 150 francs for them. They're polaroid.

Polarization is like extrapolation,

an already obsolete theory.

Today we're coming back to the old idea,

that the only protection from the sun...

is colour.

See the ones I prescribed for Daniel.

There are 2 colours, blue and magenta.

Both are efficient against harmful rays.

What's magenta?

The racket started again the next night.

I decided it'd be the last one.

Keep quiet, Miss!

You'll have to leave, old man.

Who are you? I don't know you!

You've disturbed my rest, Sir.

It's a pity.

Might is right.

OK, I'm leaving.

My father's away for a week. Come to my house?

You're not going to stay with them!

Yes!

Haydée didn't invite anyone else to stay.

She made phone calls around 8 p.m.

You take the path. The house is 200 meters away.

No, not the road, the path.

You'll tell me later.

OK, see you later. Kisses.

She usually came home at dawn, when I was getting up.

The boy wasn't always the one who'd come to pick her up.

- See you! - Yes, tonight, bye.

Since she spent her days sleeping, we hardly saw her.

One evening, needing a ride, she asked me.

Is Werner there, please?

Do you know when he'll be back?

Tell him Haydée called.

H-a-y-d-é-e.

Can you give me a ride?

- What for? - I have a date.

- With which one? - You don't know him.

Make sure the next one has a car.

- You can't? - I can, but I don't want to.

Darling you lack good manners.

Look at Daniel and me.

We find happiness in virtue and the simple life.

One finds happiness where one can.

Will you come swim tomorrow at 7?

OK.

Haydée took me at my word.

Which, I must say, I rather liked.

The situation was cleared up.

Like Daniel, she'd be part of my solitude.

Since she was there, why not annex her.

I made our relationship clear at once,

simple friendship.

I knew she would have liked exactly the opposite,

a semi-ceremonial, semi-insolent courtship.

That was my style...

with any other girl, that is.

In fact, for several days, the three of us lived pleasantly...

each engrossed in our own occupations...

and chores around the house...

which we made very important, on purpose.

Haydée was easy to get along with and able to be in tune with us...

without imitating our tics too much.

There was a hitch somewhere, however,

which I felt,

although Haydée very cleverly hid

what I supposed was her game.

It was precisely her reserve that irritated me.

So I took the risk of rushing things,

and afraid of letting myself soften,

chose the irreparable.

Shall we sit down?

Here, catch.

The worst thing here is the wine.

It's disgusting!

I don't drink it anymore.

It's wrong to drink something one doesn't like,

to accept things one dislikes...

to see people one dislikes...

to caress a girl one dislikes.

It's supremely immoral.

My error is to want to check my first impressions.

The legs of a girl with an ugly nose leave me indifferent.

Don't touch them.

Besides...

It bothers me that you're running after me.

I am not!

Yes you are.

I can tell when a girl's interested.

Another time, you could have me.

I'm weak, and too nice.

One must know how to be moral.

If I think of you as a girl I should sleep with

I see all your faults.

You must have some qualities.

Do you think so?

Why not go after Daniel.

Of course, he's far superior to you,

but his morality is more flexible than mine.

There are plenty of other boys you know.

I know Haydée, you're too popular.

We live the same dramas.

My tactic apparently hadn't worked.

But the feeling left by my blundering

ruined our relationship.

The little game of hide-and-seek...

far from protecting my cherished solitude...

brought something dramatic and unbalanced to it.

I was obliged

to be more and more interested in her.

Daniel, here, was a bad master,

his mysterious attitude giving me food for thought.

Haydée's looking for you.

Oh yes. What for?

Don't know. I can't imagine what she wants with you.

Listen...

Do me a favour.

I'm ready to kick her out.

That's not it.

Daniel, take her.

Take her yourself and leave me alone!

I'm asking you for a favour.

No, old man. I don't do that for anyone.

Sleep with her. In fact if I were you, I'd charge.

Well go ahead, charge!

I no longer want to make the least effort.

And even if I wanted to...

I'm not sure I'd succeed.

You won't make me believe that you'd find it hard to lay that tart.

Yes.

I decided long ago not to run after any girl.

It tires me out.

But since she's after you, take her.

She's quite charming.

That's just it.

I'm fed up with little girls everyone admires.

Fed up with girls everyone shares.

It depresses me.

I'm still interested in perversity. But nothing like that kind of chick.

Please!

She won't want me.

Be serious, Daniel.

I am serious!

The more girls a guy has, the more he's suspect.

The important thing is not to be liked.

It flatters me.

It's nice not to be in her collection.

Her guys aren't so bad.

Maybe...it's not important.

I don't give a fig about a girl liking me or not.

You wouldn't do it for me?

That's enough!

Daniel, my friend, I don't understand you.

Screw her, old man!

In spite of my inclination to be a hermit,

I wasn't totally cut off from the world.

So, I accepted to dine out once.

I was well aware that even justified by business

this killed my fine resolutions.

It cleared up my ideas,

and I saw the immensity of my error.

If there existed any quarrel,

it was between Daniel and me.

He was scoring high as he attacked our ironies.

Coming home, I felt the game was rigged,

and that an essential card was missing,

a precise fact which was going

to be disclosed right then.

In the morning, Daniel was sulky with the girl.

Less to mislead me, since he guessed that I knew,

than to surprise me.

She was the one hurt by this attack,

more clearly than when I'd attacked her

which vexed me.

On bad terms with both of us,

she was forced to go back to her old life.

I'm coming!

You're going downhill.

Downhill fast!

Then, an era of open hostility began...

an era during which our respective talents...

hers, as well as ours,

were fully exploited.

I found a definition for Haydée.

She's a collector!

Haydée, if you sleep around without premeditation...

you are the lowest of the low.

The atrocious ingenue.

But, if you collect in a consistent way,

with obstinacy,

if it's a plot, things are entirely different.

Yes, but she collects badly.

I'm not a collector.

Don't say that. It's your only quality.

You're completely wrong. I'm searching.

I'm trying to find something.

I may be mistaken.

She takes what she finds.

She doesn't know what postponement means.

No. I exploit.

It can be anything, the main thing is for me to get something.

No, you scrape the barrel,

and you end up with only a pile

which collapses 'cause there's nothing behind it.

- You scrape the barrel too. - I'm a barbarian.

If I slept with you, it was without ulterior motives.

Illogical! You blame me for taking anything,

and you brag about doing it.

Not being a barbarian, you can't behave like one.

But I can.

One must always be killing something.

Sleeping with you or not changes nothing.

I slept with you as soon as I saw you.

Where was that?

She was dancing. And you?

She was making love.

Physically, that is.

With a guy, in bed.

I thought the room was empty.

So, you see, you've slept with her. All men have slept with her, the slut.

A collector certainly is a poor wretch...

who thinks only of adding.

He'll never be happy with one object.

He'll always look for the remarkable object in a series.

He'll always want to have a set.

We're very far from purity.

What's important, is elimination.

The idea of collecting is opposite to that of purity.

The feeling Haydée aroused in me,

was at least that of curiosity.

She was, in fact, the center of my interest.

That girl, finally accepted as part of the scenery,

was becoming the focus, pushing Daniel to the background.

You're not going out tonight?

No, as you can see.

Do you want to go out with me?

You're going out?

If you want to.

Let's all go.

No.

Yes Daniel, come.

I'm high.

I'm staying.

Go out together.

All right.

Let's go!

OK.

After a calm night,

during which the girls we met acted as foils to Haydée...

prompted by the hour and insomnia...

I let myself hurry things a bit.

I'm told, Miss, that your name is Fanchon?

Fanchon, that's right.

A nice name.

And you're from Paris?

Yes, that's true.

So my information is correct.

Yes, it's true.

Fine harbour!

Yes, but I'm a bit cold.

But it's so warm.

Adrian, get my jacket please.

It's beautiful.

- Very beautiful. - Very, very beautiful!

Let's go.

Yes, let's go.

Since we weren't sleepy... I suggested a walk up the mountain.

If she was following a plan, it was going well.

If she was trying to add me to her collection...

She was handling things perfectly.

Her behaviour could be regarded,

ever since we had met,

including her affair with Daniel,

as the most sure way,

to arouse my interest in her.

She'd succeeded, if it was true,

which I readily admitted.

On the way back, we decided to go for a swim.

I wanted to be sure, at my own risk,

of the strength of my suppositions.

You know, it's easy to get Daniel.

He doesn't interest me.

He's much better than anyone else you've met.

You may be right, for here...

Anyway, it's my business.

But it bothers me that you're on bad terms.

This kind of situation amuses me.

Simple happiness makes me sad.

To think you're loved by an exceptional being!

Mind your own business!

I came to find peace, and you're disturbing it.

If everyone lives for himself, I won't disturb it.

Haydée, let's make peace.

- We're not at war. - Yes, we are.

It's you who keeps it going.

You seem to interpret as hostile a fundamentally friendly attitude.

I feel the same way about you.

Then there's no problem.

I don't see any. You just love to rack your brains.

In so far as you're only half likable to me.

We're both indifferent, and that's fine.

It doesn't mean we can't live together.

I've often wondered what your smile meant.

Nothing.

That's what I thought.

Now, she certainly wouldn't make any moves toward me.

She obliged me to commit myself little by little.

Let's swim?

I'm sleepy. Let's go.

Her romance with Daniel didn't leave me at peace.

Their complicity was artificial.

Were they playing a game for themselves, or for me?

Iffor me, I came back to my first theory.

Why would such an easy girl waste time

trying to get me that way,

when my rashness left her a direct path?

Those were my minor worries.

I had another, much more serious one.

That of organising a meeting with the curio collector,

who was also a probable partner in the gallery I wanted to open.

The preparation of all this went quickly.

What do you think of it?

It's a very rare Chinese vase.

I've been trying to get it for 3 years.

It looks more Hindu or Siamese.

Because of the elephants.

It's a Song from the 10th Century.

Just before elephants disappeared from China,

before the uprising of the people.

And this one?

It looks more Chinese.

Because it's Japanese.

A Satsuma from the 19th C.

It's worthless. I got it as a bonus.

Take it.

Thanks, I will.

Things were deteriorating between Daniel and Haydée.

Each wanted to split on his own terms,

which explained the games.

Daniel took the lead and planned a finale that resembled him.

Stop that!

That's enough!

Will you be done soon?

I've never seen such a dumb guy.

I wonder what I'm doing here.

Quiet, little idiot! You get on my nerves.

You were lucky enough to have both of us interested in you.

Adrian's right,

you're made for the jerks who screw you.

For a while, I thought you had something in you,

to draw you out of your pitiful insignificance.

What fascinated me is your insignificance.

I don't even think you're ugly.

What attracted me...

was a trace of ugliness in your face.

Then, you can be a bit moving.

But when you're pretty, or lovely,

then, let me laugh!

You represent the lowest...most degraded and absent stage of beauty.

Listen to me.

Every ray of light has a most brilliant,

and weakest point.

The thing is to intercept it.

It can't function in emptiness.

One can make it fall in a straight line...

reflect or deflect it, bring it in or spread it out...

make it as round as a bubble...

make it shine or block it.

At its weakest, it's darkness.

You're definitely irrecuperable.

Or maybe for an Impressionist painter!

I haven't wasted too much time with you.

But I can't afford to waste any.

I'm stopping here. Good night.

I'm leaving tomorrow. I've been invited to the Seychelles.

That's too bad.

My friend Sam, the collector,

is coming tomorrow.

He's completely crazy, that painter!

I wasted enough time with him too.

I'm fed up with artificial abnormals.

I won't stay here one more minute.

Is Felix there, please?

Never mind, I'll call later.

If you have somewhere to go, I can drive you.

I'm not leaving.

This house is mine as much as yours.

I'll write Rodolphe to get you to leave.

You think Rodolphe will care about what you say.

You can be sure that Daniel prepared his exit carefully.

Did you believe him?

True or not, it's all the same to me.

I hate that kind of scene.

Anyway, it's over.

I'll stay here. But I won't talk to either of you.

I'll take the front room.

As you wish.

OK, we've been very cruel.

Your romance is none of my business.

But why are you mad at me?

You put those stupid ideas in Daniel's head.

Ideas? I don't have any ideas.

I kept saying nice things about you.

I can do my own advertising!

The only thing I could reproach you for,

is your lack of humour!

I only criticize people I like.

If I thought ill of you, I wouldn't tell you.

Let's drink to our reconciliation.

Forgive me, I've been very nasty.

Hardly.

Yes, you push me to crime, and I can't help but take the bait.

What irritates me in you, isn't what you think.

I think nothing.

Yes, it's that you don't know what you want.

It took me a long time to see it.

Maybe I don't have what I want.

But, I know quite well what I want.

And what's that?

To have normal relationships with people.

It's always difficult for me, whatever I do.

I seldom get what I want.

Actually, I've never had it.

And Daniel, did you want him?

Not really, I don't call that wanting.

I'd have liked to be a friend of his.

And yours, perhaps.

You could, with me.

In my own way, I like you. A lot.

You keep criticizing me. And Daniel follows your lead.

He's old enough to form his own opinion.

Besides, from the very beginning,

you brought those horrid guys here.

I never brought anyone!

And that first guy?

Well...that one...

And those who come get you?

If they're stupid enough to come get me...

I haven't gone out for 2 weeks.

I haven't said anything for 2 weeks.

I said nothing tonight.

You didn't stand up for me.

I'm lazy, you know.

You'd be glad if I left?

Not at all, you're charming.

You think I'm ugly.

I never said that.

I said that you aren't my type.

But for your type, you're perfect.

An inferior type?

An in-between type.

My taste isn't necessarily good.

Hypocrite!

That's not hypocrisy, it's charm.

Don't think I despise you.

Far from it, you're well above your lovers.

They're not my lovers. I have no lovers.

And if I did, they wouldn't be them.

Anyway, I'm free to see whom I wish.

No, you're not free.

As I'm not free to go after an ugly girl.

Me?

Your case is different.

With girls like you, I've always wasted my time.

But you're an exception.

I feel that with you, it won't be entirely wasted.

In short, you're a dangerous girl.

Don't you think?

I can't understand how you ever believed...

that I disliked you.

Enough for tonight, I'm sleepy.

Shall we go to bed?

How wonderful!

I'm through with both of you.

You never started with me.

Yes, too much.

It was baked at a relatively low temperature.

570 to 750 degrees.

Think so?

I know so.

It's a characteristic of the vases from that era.

What I like is the ears.

I'd like a car for Bertaud's, Ramatuelle Road.

When? 5 minutes, thank you.

I can drive you.

No, it's all right.

Let me introduce you to Sam.

This is your collector?

I'm not interested in collectors, Sir.

Since I rarely see any,

I must tell you that you're quite ridiculous.

That's enough, Daniel!

I hate collectors.

I can't bear the sight of them.

I refuse to get mixed up in your schemes.

I don't have to flatter people, especially not these.

Come here, I have to talk to you.

He must have wanted to make a scene.

Actually, he's angry at the girl.

She's lovely.

His girlfriend?

Not at all.

Yours?

No.

She just lives here...

sleeps around a bit.

Well, a lot.

She's a collector.

A collector!

We have something in common.

Are you part of her collection?

You should be.

Do you want to be?

- Me? - Why not?

She's the fastest girl in the world.

I like ones that are hard to get.

Sam, admit that you like her.

That's not the question.

She has to find me attractive.

Consider it done.

She does everything I tell her to do.

There's always that Machiavellian side to you.

You say that because she left with the other.

No, certainly not.

Are you sure?

Before leaving, I went to see Haydée, to explain the plan to her.

May I come in?

He wants us to spend the night at his place.

I can't, I have an important appointment in the morning.

But you could go.

I'd go get you the day after.

What exactly am I supposed to do with him?

Whatever you like.

But he'd be offended if you refuse especially after Daniel's exit.

In short, I'm the bonus for the vase.

It isn't only the vase.

I have a major project with him,

the financing of a gallery.

In business, you must create an environment,

a favourable one.

I love to do things for people. Especially you.

Anyway, I feel safer with him than with you.

Which can be interpreted both ways.

I see only one.

Of course, this plot was bluff on my part,

and on Sam's, who loved this kind ofjoke.

And also on Haydée's,

whose readiness to obey me pleased me,

and united us better than our false confidences.

The evening was calm,

and each of us played his part carefully.

It's time to go.

I have an important appointment in Nice.

Stay here, I have a spare room for you.

Thank you, but I hate sleeping only 2 hours.

I prefer a sleepless night.

Besides, I have to take our friend home.

Do as you like.

But I'm keeping Haydée.

Do you mind?

- Not at all. - OK then.

What would you like for breakfast?

Fried eggs with grated cheese, and lots of cornflakes.

I slept all morning, and an errand I had to run cut into my afternoon,

so I decided to stay downtown.

For the first time since I'd arrived, I was bored.

And I preferred to be bored outdoors.

I couldn't wait to see Sam and Haydée,

though I knew not to expect anything,

since nothing would happen.

I was irritated by the pleasure they'd both taken in their roles.

They were now at the core,

even if nothing was happening, and I was in exile.

It made me jealous, and I felt how ridiculous it was to be so.

That I could miss her at all, I couldn't admit.

Yet, I felt closer than ever to her,

unable to confuse her with the other girls,

whom I'd certainly have rejected that night.

When the time came to leave for Sam's,

I was on edge,

and hated myself and the rest of the world.

Do you speak English?

What's the best way to get to the sea, please?

That way.

But the sea's over there!

To greet me, Sam and Haydée had prepared

a scene meant to cheer me up

but in which I saw a complicity that irritated me.

Did you have a good time?

Lovely!

Sam attacked me all evening,

on what he thought were my weak points.

He meant to humiliate me in front of the girl.

To do nothing, and think, is exhausting.

In fact, working is easier.

One starts downhill.

There's laziness in work. Work is an escape,

a sort of good conscience one buys.

Obviously, you're the least lazy person I know.

I haven't taken a holiday in over 10 years.

Sure, you're on holiday permanently.

Yes and no, not quite.

What amuses me in you, is that you always try to justify yourself.

On the contrary, I don't have a guilty conscience.

You're a liar.

You have the guilt of not having money.

Sam, surely you've heard of the Tarahumaras?

When the Tarahumaras go into towns, they beg.

They stop in front of houses, in profile,

in sovereign contempt.

Successful or not, they leave after a given time,

without a thank you.

When I beg, it's in profile.

Besides, we are always someone else's slave.

I find less dishonor in living at a friend's house,

than in being paid by the State.

Today, most people do useless work.

Three quarters of all activities are parasitic.

I'm not a parasite,

the bureaucrats, the technicians are.

If I were 6'6 with an eagle's profile,

I'd feel nearer to the Gods too.

You're nostalgic for the old days.

While I'm happy to live in this modern world.

I'm as modern as you are.

But what counts today, isn't work, it's laziness.

Everyone says work is but a means to an end.

We speak of a civilization of leisure.

By then, we'll have lost our sense of leisure.

Some people work for 40 years, then rest.

And when they get to rest, don't know how to, and die of it.

I think sincerely, that I serve mankind better by resting

than by working.

One must have courage to not work.

More courage than to go to the moon?

Of course, one can also go to the moon.

It's both fascinating and contemptible.

If I have to listen to your monologue tonight,

I'll sleep here in this chair.

Your attitude is that of a small child,

quite happy with his mediocre life.

Go to the moon, Adrian.

To Jupiter too.

Hurry, and when you get there,

send me a postcard,

if you have the money to buy one.

I've always regretted not being rich.

But if I were, my dandyism, as you say, would be easy,

and would totally lack heroism.

And I can't imagine a dandy without heroism.

Do you find his metaphysical monologue

as interesting as Tarzan?

Don't mind him. He talks to hear himself.

Yes, she's right.

Be careful!

Very clever!

She's impossible!

Your rooms are on the second floor.

And you laugh!

One doesn't break a Song vase!

I break whatever I wish.

Besides you've already been paid.

One still doesn't break a Song vase!

I didn't do it on purpose.

You think it's funny too.

A true collector would've killed you.

You're impossible.

I knew I couldn't take you anywhere.

You shouldn't have left me with him for 2 days.

- What did he do to you? - Nothing.

Did he bother you?

Not at all. We went boating.

Last night he took me to the Casino. Lovely...

Are you're hurt because he didn't try?

Would you believe me if I said I slept with him?

I'd believe anything from you.

I know that if you say yes, it probably means no.

But it might mean yes as well.

You're a little immoral slut!

I definitely don't agree with your morals.

I don't either.

Besides, I feel like eluding them now.

I'm sleepy.

Let's go up?

No, let's go home.

The die was cast!

The girl proved the strongest.

I came back to my theory once again.

For three weeks,

she'd acted, with the sole idea of possessing me.

Daniel, Sam, and now the broken vase,

were steps taken to conquer precious me.

My protective fortress of moralism was tumbling down.

Since I'd come to Rodolphe's searching for pleasure,

why not, for the 8 days left me, enjoy myself with Haydée?

An affair so clearly situated

in space and time gratified my wishes for total adventure.

One week was the ideal length

that I'd have liked my casual affairs to last,

and not the one night, or long ordeals they'd been till now.

It's Haydée!

Wait a minute.

Come with us?

- Where? - To Lorenzo's.

In Rome?

No, he's at his villa in San Felice.

I can't now.

Take the address.

Wait!

San Fe...li...ce...

I can't now, I tell you.

Drop him!

Give me the address.

- Let's go. - I can't just like that!

When I started the motor it was just to clear the road,

and stop Haydée's procrastination.

I soon realized that I wouldn't stop,

and for the first time, was making

the right decision.

This is the story of my changes of mind.

My musing was making way,

for the decision I'd made the first few days here.

Now I could follow the plan I'd made for my vacation.

Peace and solitude were mine at last.

Not only were they given to me,

but I got them, by at last asserting my freedom.

I was enjoying my victory,

and ascribed it to myself alone, not chance.

I was overwhelmed by a feeling of delightful independence,

of a total self-determination.

But in the emptiness and silence of the house,

I was overcome with anguish. I was unable to sleep.

Is this the airport?

When is there a flight to London?

Today, yes.